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Skim Milk????

But I have a question. I dont pump all the time, only when he takes longer naps and I get engourged. When I pumped over the weekend my milk looked like skim milk!!!

It was just really light and thin, this came out of me when i was uber engorged and it took abt 4 mins to pump out 4 oz from both sides. I did pump a little more (5 more mins) and it did get thicker per say...........why did i pump out "skim milk"???

Re: Skim Milk????

Sounds like it was more foremilk versus hindmilk. It's NOT skim milk though. It just has a little less fat. It's thought that this is the thirstquenching milk versus the filling milk that babies get later in a nursing.

If you'd kept pumping, you would have gotten more hindmilk.

It sounds like you might have a bit of an oversupply. You don't need to pump when baby takes a longer nap...just nurse when he wakes up! Yes, you might be a bit engorged, but pumping is keeping the oversupply train running.

Re: Skim Milk????

100% with Susan. It's not skim- it's foremilk. If you had waited for your baby to nurse instead of using the pump, he would have gotten lots of thirst-quenching milk, which would have been perfect since he probably would have been thirsty after going a while without nursing. He might have taken just a single breast, draining that one until he reached the hindmilk, and then skipped the other breast or fed lightly on it, getting a dessert serving of foremilk.

Is there a reason you need to pump, or are you just doing it out of concern over your supply?

Re: Skim Milk????

Thank you so much. I want to keep pumping so I can make up bottles. When we go out to dinner or where ever I want to be able to sit and eat not go out to the car to feed ds when /if he gets hungry while we are out With our oldest ds i spent more time feeding him in the car and my food was brought to me in a carry out container

I could never pumo enough for a bottle with him, but this LO I can. I want to be able to freeze some so i have it. But dh does not want me to freeze it. ARGH!

Re: Skim Milk????

Why go out to the car? You will make your life a lot less complicated if you get comfortable NIP. I realize that NIP is not easy for a lot of women but not having to worry about bottles is one of the joys of BFing.

Re: Skim Milk????

I would NIP but my husband is dead set against it. He thinks that eveyone is trying to sneak a peek................ **sigh**
But DS is going longer between feeding though. I have never had an over supply before so tht is why I am confused

Re: Skim Milk????

have you thought about a nursing cover? The "Hooter Hider" ( I love that name) is a great cover. If you google it you can probably find one for 20-30 dollars. They allow you to see your baby (and baby can see you) but everything is covered to other people. It's also great for a distractible baby.

~Jenn~

mother of 2 boys!08/14/98~~03/20/08Birth: 7lbs 12oz, 1 year: 22lbs 11oz until he self-weaned 4 days before his third birthday ... still on occasion ... and happily ************************************************** ************************************************** *****************People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet

Re: Skim Milk????

Give your DH a big ol' for me. He is making your life so much harder because he's worried that someone will see your breast. Well, IMO it's not HIS breast so it's not HIS problem!!!!

It's pretty normal for a mom to have a different level of supply with a subsequent child. I had trouble supplying enough for my first baby (in the early weeks), but with my second I had a significant and persistent oversupply problem.